Tracy PopolizioFull disclosure, parents: this blog post is a little heavier than I originally planned. But it’s real, and it’s life, and I hope it speaks to you and encourages you.
I used to be “that” parent. You know, the one who tried as hard as she could to do everything right. Teach responsibility by having them load the dishwasher. Have weekly family game nights and Friday night pizza and a movie night. Read the Bible together and learn all the books in order. So, when I heard other people share their kids were struggling with issues, or had strayed from their faith, I prided myself in being “that” parent, who said to herself, “That won’t ever happen to my child.” No way. I’d raised them in the Lord, and Solomon promised us in Proverbs that if we train them the right way, when our kids are old they won’t depart from it.
Imagine my surprise, then, when within one year, I learned my eldest had moved away and turned her back on God, and my youngest had cut himself fourteen times with a house key to feel pain from the numbing effects of depression. What!? My orderly, comfortable, happy life crashed down on top of me like a stack of Jenga blocks. What was I supposed to do now? The only thing I could do. That one thing I’d learned my entire life but only recently really learned how to do. Pray.
Not just pray, but hit the knees, on my face, crying out to the Lover of my soul praying. But it didn’t stop there. While praying is great, we are also called to have faith. Trust Him. How did you have faith when your heart was breaking daily?
As I prayed, the Lord heard me. He gave me a picture in my mind of my oldest. In it, she was happy, she had come back to her Savior, and she was home. I clung to that picture. Why? Hope. Again, the wise king, Solomon, tells us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” When the desire come. That means it will. We just need to hold on. When I feel discouraged or hopeless, I close my eyes and picture the two images the Lord gave me, one of each child. Parents, when you feel discouraged or helpless, lean into Jesus, the Author and Perfector of your faith. Ask Him to show you a picture to hold on to, and don’t ever lose hope!
Misha
Kristen Gwen
Carol Eaton
Thank you for this! I have been where you are. Like you, I was the mom who tried to do everything right. When our children turned away from the faith, I prayed as never before. They are adults now and still questioning. Nothing in this life is perfect, but God has a plan. Let’s trust Him.
Yes He does, Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing. I will be praying for yours as well.
Thank you, Tracy for sharing your heart and reminding us that we have strong hope because of who we trust in – the Lord. Just as writers walk their characters through different chapters, parents watch their children go through different chapters and stages. Some are hard. But nothing can separate us or our children from God’s love. He is at work.
Yes, we have hope.
Amen Gretchen! I love how you relate that to our characters. Thank you.
I can so relate to your experience. I was that same mom who thought I did everything right and would never have straying children. I was so wrong.
At one of my lowest points, I cried out to God for hope and he led me to Jeremiah 31:16-17:
But now this is what the Lord says:
“Do not weep any longer,
for I will reward you,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to you
from the distant land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come again to their own land.
I know that promise was for Israel but in that moment, God gave it to me. I clung to that morsel of hope like a drowning woman to a life raft. I still cling to it as two of my three grown children aren’t walking with the Lord.
Thanks for your vulnerability.
Deena thank you for this. I will hodm on to this promise too. I love it!
Thank you, Tracy, for your honesty and transparency. I love the idea of clinging to hope during our worst moments of heartbreak. I’m sending your post to my sister whose heart is breaking watching her son walk away from his faith. Prayers to all the moms who need this message today!
Julane I hope it helps her! I’m so glad we can all help each other.
Thank you for being so vulnerable. I am not a mother yet but I worry about the struggles my future children will face and if I will be good enough for them. This post is encouraging because we can see proof through the scriptures that God will not abandon us or our children in our time of need!
Julia God will not abandon us ever, you’re right! So encouraging!